Fear Makes You A Control Freak
Fear Makes You A Control Freak
Fear makes you a control freak. It goes without saying that there is a lot of fear in our country right now due to the coronavirus. It’s interesting because the fear covers such a wide range of concerns. People are afraid of getting sick, afraid of losing a loved one, and of course, people are afraid about their finances.
Some people are afraid we are going to open up the country too fast. While others are afraid of the economy if we open too slow. Increasingly, people are afraid of their own mental health and I’ve heard some parents say that they are afraid their kids will never leave the house again!
But here’s the good news: God specializes in calming our fears. The prophet Isaiah spoke for God saying:
“Do not be afraid, for I have claimed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior." Isaiah 43:1-3
Fear is Powerful
Now, I have to admit - straight up - that fear is powerful. We have to be honest about that. I want to give fear its due. It’s no lightweight.
Fear is so powerful it can cause you to abandon your faith, and as a pastor, I’m concerned about that. I don’t want that happening to you. But fear can also cause you to lean into God. Our current crisis can be an opportunity for your faith to grow significantly. I know that’s been true for me. The hardest trials in my life were times when God proved himself faithful to me and my faith grew.
I'm currently preaching my way through a series on fear at my church, loosely based on the book Fearless, by Max Lucado. In my first sermon, I looked at the story of Jesus' arrest, crucifixion, and resurrection to look learn some key components of fear.
Fear is About Losing Control
Jesus was arrested in the dark of night. Darkness is a perfect metaphor for losing control.What happens in the dark? You lose your markers, right? In the light, we know what’s there and where everything is. We can see where we are going. We can easily navigate a room. But in the dark, we lose that control. We fly blind, no longer having any sense of direction. It’s disorienting and it causes you to feel vulnerable. Fear seizes on that vulnerability. It attacks your weakness.That’s exactly how some of us feel right now. The coronavirus and financial crisis have caused us to lose control. We’re in the dark. All of our security has been removed. And it scares us that something might come out of the dark to hurt us.
Fear Lies To You About Your Future
What do you think the disciples were telling themselves when Jesus was hauled away? We’re next. They’re gonna come for us. We’re gonna die. Fear connects the dots of past events and then extrapolates a worst-case scenario. Fear feeds off the unknown. The minute there is any uncertainty to your life, fear is quick to flood your mind with horror stories. Fear says things like: You’re going to lose your job. You’ll have to sell your house. You’ll have to drop out of school. You going to get sick. You’ll probably die.
Fear Makes You A Control Freak
Max Lucado put it like this:
Fear corrodes our confidence in God’s goodness. Fear unleashes a swarm of doubts, anger-stirring doubts. And it turns us into control freaks.
Fear tells you that God’s not in control. You can’t trust him. You need to do something: fast. Forget everything Jesus taught you. It’s every man for himself. That’s why Peter pulled out his sword and started swinging at people. He was going to take back control even if he had to kill someone. What do YOU do to take back control? What are your go-to manipulations?
Fear Robs From Us
Fear almost robbed the disciples of their calling. Fear caused ten of them to desert Jesus. Peter denied him and Judas’ took his life. That’s the fruit of fear. I wonder what fear has robbed from you over the years? What battles were never fought that you could have won? What relationships were never formed or what relationships were abandoned that could have fulfilled your life? Max Lucado calls fear…
…the big bully in the high school hallway: brash, loud, and unproductive...For all the noise fear makes and room it takes, fear does little good. Fear never wrote a symphony or poem, negotiated a peace treaty, or cured a disease. Fear never pulled a family out of poverty or a country out of bigotry. Fear never saved a marriage or a business. Courage did that. Faith did that. People who refused to consult or cower to their timidities did that. But fear itself? Fear herds us into a prison and slams the doors. Wouldn’t it be great to walk out?
I wonder if fear has herded you into some kind of prison and slammed the door. What would your life be like if there was no fear?
The Foolishness of Fear
The resurrection showed the foolishness of fear. God was in control all the time. God took the worst event in history and turned it into the greatest event of all time.
Let the resurrection stand as a reminder to you that God’s in control. He knows your situation and he can bring a resurrection to it no matter how dark things are today.
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